Here's how Soccer America Magazine readers rated the U.S. players against Panama in World Cup 2006 qualifying Wednesday on a scale of 1-10 (1=low; 10=high).
(SA rating scale: 10=out of this world; 9=world class; 8=excellent; 7=very good; 6=good; 5=average; 4=poor; 3=bad; 2=very bad; 1=ugly)
Mario CESARONE
Sewell, N.J.
Keller (6) Steady, but little action.
Hejduk (6) A veritable dynamo. His crosses into the middle are inconsistent. OK in defense.
Pope (7) This man has proven he is one of the best.
Berhalter (6) Good defense but unhappy with his clearances. Too many wasted balls.
Bocanegra (6) Carlos is another solid defender. As at his club he throws away too many cleared balls.
Zavagnin (7) He made some nice passes broke up Panama attack well.
Beasley. (8) Boy he gets lots of attention from the defense. However he still makes great plays often enough.
Donovan (9) This kid is the real thing. Great vision, impeccable passes, cool finishing. Hello Leverkusen.
Lewis (6) Faded often but came on in the end. Inconsistent crosses.
McBride (8) What a team player. Won everything in sight in the air and laid it off well. He is not a world class scorer.
Wolff (NR) A few years ago I thought he was the ANSWER to our scoring dilemma. Not to be. Faded too much but nice set up on the first goal.
Johnson (7) Excellent finishing but they were mostly sitters. He missed the breakaway. Time will tell if he is the ANSWER.
Mastroeni (7) Only 20 minutes but seemed to have sparked the team. Saw a glimpse of his World Cup form.
Onyewu (NR) This guy is big. Would like to see him play a few more minutes.
Have looked forward to the US converting more of the many chances it creates, finally happened. If we can get that ANSWER there will be no stopping them.
HANK EDELMAN
Keller (5) Easy night
Bocanegra (6) Stable
Pope (6) Unusually aggressive
Berhalter (6) Solid
Hejduk (6) Better job defensively this time
Zavagnin (7) Effective destroyer and some good passing
Lewis (4) Very ineffective early, better in garbage time
Beasley (7) Back to normal effort & effectiveness
Donovan (8) Super smarts & work rate, killer finishes
Wolff (6) Good passing and runs off the ball
McBride (5) Too many misses early
Johnson (8) Calm finishing, good lesson for DMB
Onyewu (NR) Garbage time
Mastroeni (NR) Good to see him back
Nice to see the team defense and multiple players pressuring all over the field. The overall work rate was several steps above the first four games.
CONSTANCE EVERETT
Keller (7) Stayed on-duty.
Hejduk (7) Plowed the road, as Frankie does.
Pope (8) Seems to be getting better again with age. Left no stone unturned.
Berhalter (7) Had his feet full, possession? Good attempts at turnarounds.
Bocanegra (9) What a guy! Strong and sure, engaging, organized. Great at both ends! Our defenders tied up the backfield and disrupted almost all ingress. Poor Panama!
Zavagnin (7) Setting up well, looking to connect and did!
Beasley (8) Better in the middle. A wonderful ''pest,'' fast and tricky. Drives opponents crazy.
Donovan (9) Definitely ready to play tonight, on duty, concentrated early, such instinct is born. Putting Donovan and the Beaz together made for real havoc going forward.
Lewis (6) Supportive.
McBride (7) Tried to ''be there,'' not always.
Wolff (7) Engaging the enemy often, but lucky for us he had to go off.
Johnson (9) Remember Donovan in the first years? Johnson has that natural talent to know where be. I loved how the big boys gave him the hat trick. Eddie is self-motivated and self-directed, reasoning ahead as all good frontmen do.
FRANK A. FONTE
I was at the game; and have it on tape. I wasn't that impressed with the us in the first half. I noticed that we didn't play with a right sided midfielder. although, Beasley did drift right a lot. Panama wasn't very strong on the left side of midfield. II think Mexico, Germany, Holland, Brazil won't have such weak players on their left side. In addition, we didn't win a lot of air balls in midfield; from what I saw. a major weak point of our team. We foul a lot getting to air balls. I don't think Coach Arena will be able that set up with other teams. We'll see next round. I'm hoping that Tony Sanneh gets well soon.
PATRICK GREENE, PHD
Ft. Myers, Fla.
Keller (6) not much tested
Hejduk (6) good runs forward all game
Pope (7) extremely solid in the back
Onyewu (NR)
Berhalter (7) just as solid
Bocanegra (5) not much in evidence
Zavagnin (7) stopped many counter attacks
Mastroeni (???)
Beasley (8) seemed to be everywhere
Donovan (9) unbelievable as captain – controlled the entire game through example – being vocal – and incredible work rate.
Lewis (6) good effort
McBride (5) active – but missed 2 good scoring chances – as usual
Wolff (6) too much speed for Panama to handle
Johnson (8) glorious
A. TODD HOLLAND
Los Angeles
The game nearly fell out of control early as the Trinidad officiating crew appeared to have a personal grudge against DaMarcus Beasley (save it for Totti, fellas). The Beas' was not to be denied as he along with Donovan ignited the Americans confidence and led the way to victory.
Keller (7) rarely tested, but always in command. Keller is the Ying to Donovan's Yang– both extremely calm in front of the goal, only with different intent.
Hejduk (5) One step over does not make a game, but at least Frankie recognized his speedy attacks were not needed and thus mostly stayed back and wasn't caught out of position.
Pope (8) Eddie bravely held his own versus sizable antagonists. Playing hurt (see that egg on his forehead after the collision?) inspired the defense throughout the field.
Onyewu, (NR) Finally a chance to see the rumored big man. He nearly stole a goal from McBride (Panama own goal) and needs to learn to play with his teammates, not in contention with them.
Berhalter (5) Missed header early caused immediate letdown to USA offense, but overall played well.
Bocanegra (5) Still hurting, the Boc' was nearly a liability on defense until Landon streaked back to save the day. His service was still on target though and that ain't too shabby.
Zavagnin (6) Did the work that is hard to follow. The Bruce was happy and so am I.
Mastroeni (NR) Good to see Pablo back in the fold.
Beasley (8) Despite early knocks, Beasley ran amok in the midfield, causing tremendous havoc for the defense. His flashy runs are the reason the rest of the team is so open for the pass. In addition, his defense constantly amazes us all.
Donovan (9) The Captain's armband certainly brought out the best in arguably the USA's best pure homegrown talent. No other player is as calm in front of the goal (Earnie Stewart pay attention!) or has that deft touch on the ball. His blazing runs inspire awe all around and his vision is the best since Reyna emerged. He led and the team followed.
Lewis (5) Eddie is probably better than I give him credit, but he needs to learn a how to use his right foot. His layoff to McBride was pretty but the team needs more than an experienced ball server– like some defense.
McBride (7) The stalwart won most of his aerial battles and was sharp on the toes too. He may have missed that early shot but replays (go Tivo!) displayed a hard angle to hit. Of course any deflection of the goal keeper is better than an off target shot. Still, he played his role very well and kept his temperament with the youngsters.
Wolff (6) Great service to Landon for the first goal– is Josh becoming the set up man? Won't make up for his attacking miscues. Step it up or Mathis will have a partner watching the 2006 Cup from home.
Johnson (7) Was in the right place at the right time and delivered. May look easy, but it's not.
GARR ISACCO
Woodbine, Md.
Keller (8) Not Challenged much but was up to it when challenged
Pope (8) Really stayed on Dely Valdes
Berhalter (7) Strong in the middle
Bocanegra (6) Covered left back well
Hejduk (6) very feisty at times
Donovan (9) Terrific match
Beasley (8) Great ball movement and speed
Lewis (7) Very effective out on the left wing
Zavagnin (6) Linked up well with other midfielders
McBride (5) Couple of easy misses
Wolff (6) Very mobile
Subs:
Johnson (9) We have seen the future and it is good
Mastroeni (7) Looks like he is getting back to form
Onyewu (NR) Didn't play enough for a rating
(I was at the match – Great victory.
Nice game before the flood, then it became a rout.
KENT JAMES
Washington
Donovan (9)
Beasley (8)
McBride (8)
Johnson (8)
Lewis (7)
Hejduk (7)
Zavagnin (7)
Pope (7)
Berhalter (7)
Bocanegra (7)
Keller (7)
Wolff (6)
Donovan was always dangerous and a pleasure to watch, as was Beasley, although the very undeserved yellow card I think inhibited him a bit for the rest of the game. McBride won almost every ball in the air (against some pretty strong players) and his unselfish play was to be commended. Wolff had some nice plays (like the all-important first assist) but seems to have lost a step (or else he's not yet fully fit). Everyone else played hard and did what they needed to do. A very consistent effort all over the field. So many times the US played quickly to get out of tight spaces, and their creative running and passing kept the Panamanians struggling to keep up. The defensive pressure of the US all over the field also began to take its toll on the Panamanians. We made a decent team look bad.
HARRY KIRSHNER
Keller (7) not a lot of action, but a couple of key saves and great orchestration of the back
Bocanegra (8) 2 assists and great defensive play
Berhalter (5.5) some shady passing. still not there, but solid on D
Pope (8) THE MAN in the USA defense. wonder what he would have done as a pro in Europe
Hejduk (7) talk about heart and range! but recklessness at times makes you cringe
Zavagnin (7.5) did the grunge work, nearly scored a sizzler, and his assist on Donovan's 2nd was world class… brings more to the table than Armas
Beasley (6.5) a few moments of brilliance… helped open things up in the middle
Donovan (9) one of the best performance yet from the best Yank ever… total class and quality here. Leverkusen are surely licking their chops.
Lewis (5.5) despite the assist, he lost the ball quite often
McBride (5) typically wasted his energy and health going for Keller's punts in the air… should have finished at least 2… you gotta figure his days are numbered
Wolff (6.5) great stuff to set up the first goal, nice speed and positional play
Subs:
Johnson (10) what else do you give a guy who scored 3 goals in 17 minutes? the future is NOW
Onyewu (8) FINALLY we get to see GOOCH… that last goal was his… quite a presence, and with top shelf experience in Europe, he should start with pope in the middle back
Mastroeni (7) seems to be approaching his form… one lovely foray into the attack, and kept ball well… with his experience in Korea AND with the best team in MLS history (the last edition of the FUSION, he should start at DM in germany.
DAVID QUINN
Arlington Heights, Ill.
Keller (5) Not a very busy night for the vet. Needs to be better with his feet, though.
Hejduk (6) Gave his typical workman like performance.
Pope (5) Took his lumps but I'm still waiting for this guy to take his game to another level.
Berhalter (4) Needs to show more poise for a veteran. I couldn't picture him have success down in the Central America.
Bocanegra (6) Did a nice job jumping into the attack with 2 assists and a couple of good chances to get himself a goal.
Zavagnin (6) Not flashy but very effective. Nice assist on Donovan's 2nd goal.
Beasley (7) Enjoyed a more free roll and worked well with Donovan.
Donovan (8) Showed his class on both finishes. Really stepped his game up while wearing the Captains band.
Lewis (6) Nice back heel flick should have opened scoring. Still one of the best crossers of the ball on the team.
McBride (6) Needed to do better with 1st half chance off Lewis back heel flick. Did provide his usual dominance in the Air.
Wolff (6) Great run and cross helped Landon open the flood gates. His speed is a better compliment to McBride then what Conor Casey has provided.
Johnson (7) Great speed and size. Showing a knack for getting into good scoring positions.
Mastroeni (6) It was good to see him back on the field.
Onyewu (NR) I can't wait to see this guy play a full 90 versus Jamaica!
PAUL RUSSO STONE
Keller (7) not tested much, but there when he needed to be; showed great leadership on the field when tempers flared
Hejduk (5) a few good runs forward that weren't often rewarded by passes, solid in defense, but lacked the sparkle of the overall team
Pope (5)
Onyewu (NR) good touches in defense but not given enough time to allow an opinion
Berhalter (5) solid but still has some healing to do
Bocanegra (5) didn't have his best night but met what challenges he faced
Zavagnin (6)
Mastroeni (4) still on the comeback
Beasley (8) excellent play despite heavy pressure from Panama's middle; sharp passing, superior vision, and great presence of mind to play so well after the referee's unfortunate lapse of judgment
Donovan (9) once again showing the outstanding form that's been too often missing from him since Korea. Really, really impressive, and he showed a level of mental maturity I'd not seen in him before.
Lewis (7) clearly playing at the top of his game, I suspect largely because of the pace and mien set by Donovan and Beasley
McBride (4) seemed tired, let hard-won chances go by the boards.
Wolff (7) looks to be coming back strong from injury, had his sharpest game in a long time
Johnson (9) Wow. Blazing speed, deft touch. Where has this kid been hiding?
CHRIS RYAN
The U.S. team looked solid but certain players at times made dumb miscues. Fortunately nothing was bad enough to lead to a Panamanian goal.
Loved the attack late in the game, while the Panama squad appeared dispirited, the US never let them off the hook … The killer instinct is important in World Cup play.
Keller (6)
Berhalter (6)
Zavagnin (5)
Donovan -9)
Beasley (8)
Lewis (8)
Johnson (9)
McBride (6)
Wolff -6)
Onyewu (6)
Hejduk (5)
Mastroeni (6)
Bocanegra (7)
JOE SANTOS, SR:
Nearly the whole team played well yesterday, especially the second half, but the real catalyst was Donovan (8), well supported by Beasley (7) and Wolff (6.5). McBride (5) fought hard and won many head balls but he longer has the pace and quickness to be a top class striker. Johnson (7) was very opportunistic and cashed in on his chances; undoubtedly, he is our striker of the future. Both Zavagnin (5.5) and Lewis (5.5) did OK but nothing spectacular. Johnson confirmed he is the US striker of the future. His quickness and opportunism are a great improvement in the forward line. At the back, both Bocanegra (7) and Pope (7) were very effective with Bocanegra getting two assists on goals, while Berhalter (4.5) appeared slow and somewhat indecisive. Hejduk (6) looked fast and played well but of course he was not pressed. Goalie Keller (6.5) made only one great save but he continues to be very effective and totally in command.